Generally, the invention relates to vacuum cleaners. Particularly, the invention relates to a dirt collection system for a vacuum cleaner having filter cleaning devices for cleaning the filter elements within the system.
Upright vacuum cleaners are well known in the art. Typically, these upright vacuum cleaners include a vacuum cleaner housing pivotally mounted to a vacuum cleaner foot. The foot is formed with a nozzle opening and may include an agitator mounted therein for loosening dirt and debris from a floor surface. A motor may be mounted to either the foot or the housing for producing suction at the nozzle opening. The suction at the nozzle opening picks up the loosened dirt and debris and produces a stream of dirt-laden air which is ducted to the vacuum cleaner housing.
In conventional vacuum cleaners, the dirt laden air is ducted into a vacuum cleaner filter bag supported on or within the vacuum cleaner housing. However, bagless vacuum cleaners have recently become prevalent in the marketplace. These bagless vacuum cleaners duct the stream of dirt-laden air into a dirt cup having a dirt collecting system which filters the dirt particles from the air stream before exhausting the filtered air stream into the atmosphere. Various dirt collecting systems have been used on these bagless vacuum cleaners to separate the dirt particles from the air stream. One drawback of cleaners having a single chamber with a filter element mounted therein is that the filter element is subjected to both the large particles and the small particles causing the filter element to clog. A new and improved dirt collecting system for a bagless vacuum cleaner which is capable of separating both large particles and small particles from a stream of air, and which separates the large particles from the air stream by a pre-filter before the air stream is filtered by a fine particle filter was disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/519,106, now abandoned, owned by a common assignee which is incorporated by reference fully herein. However, the need still exists to routinely clean both the pre-filter and fine particle filter. The present invention provides a cleaning member for both the pre-filter and the fine particle filter for a dirt collecting system similar to the dirt collecting system disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/519,106, now abandoned, owned by a common assignee.
There exists in the art patents for filter elements for cleaning appliances having a cleaning device for cleaning the filter element. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,529 issued to Means, Jr. discloses a filter cleaning apparatus for cleaning cylindrical filters. U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,064 issued to MacFarland discloses a hardbox upright vacuum cleaner having a filter bag cleaning brush within the box which is operable by a handle projecting from the box. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,038,167 issued to Maitland shows a vacuum cleaner filter basket that is brushed clean by a rotating filter element. U.S. Pat. No. 1,134,294 issued to Supanz provides a vacuum cleaner having a sieve for collecting dust, a rotating brush for sweeping the sieve, and a vane for rotating the brush. U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,888 issued to Takeda discloses an electrically operated vacuum cleaner having automatic filter-cleaning means. U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,067 issued to Kato et al. has an electric cleaner which includes a filter drum and a dusting unit disposed within the drum.
Objectives of the invention include providing a new and improved dirt collecting system for use in a bagless vacuum cleaner.
A further objective is to provide a new and improved dirt collecting system which provides a filter cleaning member for the pre-filter.
A still further objective is to provide a new and improved dirt collecting system which provides a filter cleaning member for the fine particle filter.
These and other objectives will be readily apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
In carrying out the invention in aspect thereof, these objectives and advantages are obtained by providing a dirt collecting system, including a dirt cup consisting of a coarse particle separation chamber, a fine particle separation chamber laterally disposed relative to the coarse particle separation chamber, and an apertured wall extending between the coarse particle separation chamber and the fine particle separation chambers, said apertured wall being formed with an aperture which provides fluid communication between said coarse particle separation chamber and said fine particle separation chamber. A lid is provided for sealing the dirt cup. A pre-filter is suspended in the aperture for preventing large particles from entering the fine particle separation chamber. The wall is slidably inserted between the coarse particle separation chamber and the fine particle separation chamber. A pre-filter cleaning member is suspended from opposing sides of the coarse particle separation chamber and is in operative engagement with the top edge of the pre-filter when the apertured wall is inserted between the coarse particle collecting chamber and the fine particle collecting chamber. The pre-filter cleaning member is cleaned by the brushing of the pre-filter cleaning member against the pre-filter as the apertured wall is slidingly removed from within the dirt cup.
In another aspect of the invention, a fine particle separation filter is rotatably mounted within the fine particle separation chamber for preventing small particles from exiting the fine particle separation chamber. A fine particle filter cleaning member is mounted on the wall in the fine particle separation chamber adjacent to the fine particle filter. The fine particle filter cleaning member is in contact with the outer periphery of the fine particle filter so that as the fine particle filter is rotated the fine particle filter cleaning member causes the edges of the fine particle filter to vibrate to knock loose particulate matter that may have accumulated thereon.